Hyde5: Why did LeBron praise Spo on sideline?

LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat looks on during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference… (Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images )

April 21, 2014|Dave Hyde

Five quotes from Sunday's NBA playoffs:

1. “I love it. You didn’t wait too long – bam!You hit a spark. That’s big-time coaching, Spo.” –LeBron James on the sideline to Erik SpoelstraABC’s Jeff Van Gundy loved this sound byte from LeBron being mic’d up during the game. LeBron seems to be reacting to the somewhat surprising insertion of James Jones’ shooting into Sunday’s game. Seeing the Heat needed another shooter to spread out the Charlotte offense, Spoelstra put the little-used Jones into the game. He'd played just 20 games this year. But so much of this post-season will be finding match-ups that work for the older, thinner Heat. Jones shot four-of-six for 12 points and indeed sparked the Heat’s change of the game.

2. “I was pretty good.” – Dwyane Wade reacting to the video montage of his during the game.

In Game 1, Wade was the Heat need for the next two months if they’re to three-peat, as I wrote in my column today. He needs to be the guy in that video this spring. He was 10-of-16 for 23 points and five assists with one turnover. And he looked healthy.

3. “If we got a shot, we’ve got to go. We can’t keep playing half-court offense verse them.” – LeBron to teammates during a time-out.No team can turn from defense to offense like the Heat when Dwyane Wade is healthy and part of the game. That was evident in the second quarter when Wade released, LeBron throw a down-the-court pass and the result was a Wade lay-up while getting fouled. That’s the Heat teams have trouble containing. It’s also one you didn’t see much this year – and, even Sunday, didn’t see much. The Heat only had six fast-break points. As LeBron said, they need to get out more and run the court. We’ll see if this how this changes with Wade in every game now.

4. “I don’t like needles, so it was very uncomfortable to me. I got one right when it happened. From a scale form one-to-10, (the pain) was probably a six. Then I got one at halftime and if felt a lot better in the third quarter. We’re just hoping to tkeep it at that level going into Wednesday.” – Charlotte center Al Jefferson on getting pain-killing injections for the plantar fasciitis in his foot

Not that this series was in doubt, but this re-injury of Jefferson’s foot ended any possible drama. He was the one weapon Charlotte had to use against the Heat. He shot four-for-four in the first quarter - and it was revealing how easy he attacked the Heat's interior. THen he hurt the foot. He was five-for-13 the rest of the way. He couldn’t move well and wasn’t much of a force. As old-time Heat fans remember with Tim Hardaway, this isn’t the kind of injury that goes away quickly. Jefferson will have to deal with it the next three games before getting off-season rest.

5. "We miss you. You've been an important part of all of us for a long time, doing a great job. We want your fanny back on the court, and I promise I'll be nice." – San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich to interviewer Craig Sager Jr. – and his father, TNT’s Craig Sager, who has leukemia.